How Can I Get a Felony Waiver for the Marines?

Although the Marines will accept some people with felonies into their ranks, the odds of being accepted are low. Once you have committed a felony, getting into the Marines will be a difficult road to travel. In general, the Marines are more likely to consider a candidate with only minor felonies. Furthermore, they are more likely to consider a candidate whose felonies were juvenile offenses.

Felony Waivers for the Marines

If you're interesting in joining the Marines and have a felony (or felonies) in your background, be prepared for a more intensive scrutiny of your character. You'll start by being up-front about your felony with the recruitment officer. He'll walk you through the process for applying for a felony waiver.

Speak directly with your Marine recruiting officer for specifics, but expect the following. The Marines will require three character references. Furthermore, you'll be required to write an essay on "Why I want to be a Marine." And you'll be required to write a detailed statement of the felony incident. As well, police reports and court documents will be reviewed. All of these documents will be put together as a package by your recruitment officer.

This package will be reviewed by the operations officer at the recruiting headquarters. If he considers the candidate worthy of consideration, he'll pass the documents to the district headquarters. From there, they'll go to the region headquarters where they'll be reviewed by the general in charge. Ultimately, he'll decide if the candidate should be accepted.

The process is difficult. The candidate must show a sincere interest in becoming a Marine. And the candidate must show that his character has changed for the better.